Emma Anglesey: “Swells My Heart”

Tasmania’s own Emma Anglesey is back with a typically striking new single Swells My Heart, a lush offering that puts a magnifying glass to uncontrollable passion and its repercussions, out June 15. This intriguing release is accompanied by a hypnotic clip that is steeped in historic influences, directed by Emma and filmed by Scott Atkins (Dark MOFO, Party In The Paddock). Swells My Heart is one of the first singles from Emma’s upcoming album, Some Things Can’t Be Undone – an intimate reflection on life changing moments that cannot be erased, out June 29. To celebrate, Emma Anglesey will be hitting the road with Some Things Can’t Be Undone, kicking off in her home town of Launceston, Tasmania on July 20 then moving through Hobart, Melbourne, Callala Bay, Canberra, and wrapping up in NSW with shows in Cronulla, Newtown and Bulli on August 30, 31 and September 1.

Swells My Heart is meditative, in a way – the steady, assured vocals weave amongst balanced acoustic guitar while gentle percussion perculates underneath – but there is something ominous, intoxicating, about the song that is harder to pin on any one instrument. Is it the repeated glissandos in the strings, or the gradual thickening of the arrangement with subtle, grooving bass, or the bodiless choir that encourages this unease? If there is an answer, repeated listens will be necessary in order to discover it. Voicing her own thoughts on the track, Emma reflects, “There are times in our lives when passion totally over takes us in spite of our reasonableness. It makes even the most normal person feel urges and provocations that are absolutely overpowering. We awake in a moment shocked at ourselves, full of crazy passion and power because of the biochemistry pumping through our veins is louder than reason. This song is about that feeling.”

The clip for Swells My Heart is suitably compelling. Filmed by Scott Atkins in one continuous shot, Emma sits regally alongside dancer Gabriel Comerford, as he writhes and moves as the track develops. It’s a transfixing, eerie representation, which, like the song itself, promises something new with each repeated watch. Looking back on the inspiration behind the clip, Emma says, “It’s been an ambition of mine for a while to shoot an entire clip in one single shot – I love these videos – and I’m so excited to have made one. The paintings of the renaissance revered irrational moments fuelled by passion; the fall in Eden and the serpent, the triumph of Judith over the armies of Kings, the beauty that overthrew David in the moonlight. The video clip takes inspiration from the artwork of this era.”

Swells My Heart is just one chapter, one perspective, from the rich tapestry of songs that is Emma’s album Some Things Can’t Be Undone. Fan favourites Mary-Anne and Bike are nestled amongst a moodier collection of new tracks, each more intricate and contemplative than the last. Produced by Joshua Barber (Gotye, Archie Roach, Gretta Ray) and recorded at his studio The Barbershop in Melbourne, Some Things Can’t Be Undone feels like the kind of album songwriters themselves will listen to for inspiration. On the making of the album Josh said, “I met Emma at a small folk festival in Tasmania and she was one of the stand-out writers I heard there, so I told her I’d love to work with her. Emma’s songs are thematically articulate, with visual and almost tactile lyrics that I really enjoyed working to and selecting sounds that build towards these emotional environments,” while Emma elaborates on the process and inspiration behind this collection of songs, “Some Things Can’t Be Undone is the name of one of the songs on the album. It felt right for it to be the album name because it’s a concept that seems so simple and so profound to me, and one that weaves through all the songs and connects them. Our lives are full of amazing, terrible, virtuous or treacherous moments, that can never be undone. For me, the idea of Some Things Can’t Be Undone truly acknowledges and celebrates these moments for all the incredible passion, excitement, regret and pain they have given us and then sets ourselves free of them.”

Emma is a true professional when it comes to performing. Set to play tracks from Some Things Can’t Be Undone at venues all across the country, she has already appeared at Woodford Folk Festival, Party in the Paddock and MONA FOMA. In 2017 she supported The Waifs’ 25th Anniversary Tour and the JUNO award winning Canadian based East Pointers, and she was chosen to be one of 5 Tasmanian acts to play at Music Tasmania’s BIGSOUND Showcase. Emma has also featured at a number of Tasmanian Festivals including a festival called Panama, Festival of Voices, DARK MOFO and Falls Festival.

The single Swells My Heart is set for release on June 15 and the album Some Things Can’t Be Undone will be available June 29.

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The "big" band in the first issue of Buzz Magazine was NOT The Big Pop Monsters (aka Superheist) but The Buzzards, a very popular surf grunge band on Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula. The Buzzards drew huge crowds in the pre-pokies pubs of the era.